This week's cover: 'Sons of Anarchy' takes its final ride

Sons of Anarchy fans still reeling from the Sept. 30 episode (read our recap) may want to take a beta blocker before reading this week’s cover story, which goes on the set and behind the scenes as the cast and the creator, Kurt Sutter, prepare for an epic ending.

The seventh and final season of FX’s highest-rated show finds Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) leading his motorcycle club, SAMCRO, on a mission to avenge the death of his wife Tara (Maggie Siff). What Jax doesn’t know is that his scheming mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal), is the real killer. In a preseason poll on EW.com, 81 percent of readers assumed that Gemma has to die for her crimes—and that was before her cover-up of Tara’s murder by carving fork ignited a street war with a devastating body count. “I kind of agree with them,” Sagal admits. “That seems like a correct assumption. I mean, it’s pretty heinous where she is now. Even though she didn’t mean it.”

Fans also assume Jax will eventually learn the truth. But what will he do? “Anyone else in the world, 100 percent guaranteed he’s gonna murder them in slow and brutal fashion, but it’s his mother, you know. It’s gonna be complicated,” says Hunnam. “I don’t envy Kurt in trying to figure out the right way to approach that.” Sutter already knows how the story will unfold—not that he’s willing to spoil it. “The question is, does Jax ever get the whole truth? Is he supposed to get the whole truth? If he only gets part of the truth, what does that mean? We’ll play with all that stuff,” he says cagily. “I think once he gets information, as much of it as he gets, we’ll see it play out in a different emotional way.”

Not one to totally shy away from dropping bombs, Sutter does reveal that a core character will die in episode nine or 10. He knows that hapless Juice (Theo Rossi) is highest on many fans’ hit lists, which is why he takes great pleasure in announcing that it’s not him. “That’ll f–k people up,” the showrunner says. (Note: This is a good time to remind everyone that there are 13 episodes in the season. #SaveJuice.)

And speaking of pleasure, we’ll leave you with this tease from Hunnam: “Twice I have been completely naked on the set of Sons in season seven. I’m not going to tell you how that came about,” he says. “But you will definitely be seeing my ass again.”

MICHAEL MULLER for EW

Timothy White

For more on Sons of Anarchy—including the fate Hunnam predicts for Jax and what Sutter hopes to accomplish with the Dec. 9 finale’s final frame—check out this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Friday, Oct. 3.